Russell Martin believes Rangers should have been awarded a penalty against Genk.
Referee Matej Jug had been called to the pitchside monitor to review a possible handball, but ended up awarding a free-kick to Genk for a push from James Tavernier.
The ball did strike defender Joris Kayembe on the arm from Tavernier's header, but contact between the players before the header in the box led to the referee's decision of a foul.
🟥 "The red card changed the game A LOT" Russell Martin on Rangers' defeat to Genk.
— The Rangers Review (@RangersReview55) September 25, 2025
Martin said of the flashpoint: "I think we should have a penalty, yeah.
"I don't think Tav affects the defender. I think Tav actually uses it to move back.
"His momentum doesn't push the defender forward. It doesn't affect his position.
"But I think when you slow it down relentlessly and watch it loads and the VAR is... So when he went to the TV I thought he was looking for us to give us a penalty and he went the other way.
"So I'm not sure, yeah."
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Martin had no complaints over Mohamed Diomande's red card, though, after the midfielder flew into a reckless challenge in the middle of the park.
The Ibrox boss commented: "I think unfortunately for Dio, the ball was bouncing so it looks high, so no, not when I watched it back.
"At the time I did, but not when I watched it back."
On the impact of the red card, Martin added: "Well, I'm disappointed we lose.
"The red card changed the game a lot. I was looking forward to getting to half-time. We had a few key points across to help the performance.
"We started fine, we had a bit of control and then we had a ten-minute spell where Genk got on top because we just didn't look after the ball anywhere near well enough, forced it a little bit, and then we defended too deep because we didn't take care of each other with the ball.
"And then I thought we rode that out and it looked like we were getting a bit of control back and then Dio gets sent off, so it's frustrating for us, really frustrating. "
